a bipolar daughter and the family who loves her: Trying Focalin/Intuniv Combo

About our Daughter

I am mother to four wonderful daughters, ages 17, 19, 21, and 23, and wife to the greatest husband on earth. God has given us a special child to raise one who was diagnosed with early-onset bipolar disorder at the age of seven, though she showed signs of it from the age of fifteen months. She also has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder (sensory seeking), Dyslexia, and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder-NOS, all typical comorbidities for a bipolar child. In spite of the trials, she enjoys lacrosse, running (finished her first marathon in October of 2014!), and reading and writing her own books. I will share with you the many joys and sorrows we have faced and will face in the future with the hope that you may find better understanding about this mental illness caused by both chemical and structural abnormalities in the brain. I desire that you will be encouraged by this blog if you are also dealing with a bipolar child. Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey.

How Did You Know She Was Bipolar So Young?

I wrote a long explanation of how we came to this bipolar diagnosis in a child so young under my post of March 19th of 2009. If your child or a child you know bears similarities, please seek out a good psychiatrist and don't wait for "things to get better." Often they will simply get worse, and the longer a child is unmedicated, the more damage their brain can accrue. Early diagnoses and treatment are key to providing these children with a chance at a successful life later as a teen and an adult.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Trying Focalin/Intuniv Combo

Vyvanse was not well tolerated by our ADHD youngest daughter Mae so we are now trying Focalin, which seems to be okay right now. We will let you know how it goes after a few weeks. She is one stubborn kid when it comes to taking her meds, or maybe we are just overwhelmed by monitoring the many medications that Caroline has to take every day. We just need to be more on top of Mae's need for medication to help her focus seeing as all other approaches have not worked. Mae's grades at the end of the second quarter weren't what they could have been if she could have been focused in class.

2 comments:

ann said...: I have had horrible experience with Focalin. My 16 year old ADHD child took it when he was about 13. The med made him become a very agressive and argumentative person. It seemed to complicate the syptoms of his ADHD. In the beginning it was ok but in two weeks we noticed the change. He was constantly fighting in school and being aggressive at home. He had a couple of very severe episodes. Once we changed his meds it took about 2 weeks for him to return to normal. I hope this helps and that you do not have this experience.
Ann; January 30, 2011 at 9:33 AM
Warrior MAMA said...: We liked focalin - the XR is a little better.

We started intuniv about 6 weeks ago. It has been great. My son's school thought we upped his adhd med. The intinv helped with his anxiety and adhd.

good luck!

:)
Lisa; January 31, 2011 at 9:59 PM